Chapter 13: Understanding Automatic Categories (1)


Chapter 13: Understanding Automatic Categories (1) (6161)






Five default categories have a special status because their balances are automatically calculated based on other information you enter. The five Automatic categories are:

? Default Receivables
? Default Payables
? Default Asset
? Default Retained Earnings
? Default Current Year's Earnings

You choose the default Retained Earnings and Current Year's Earnings categories the same way you choose other default categories.

You choose the default Receivables, Payables, and Asset categories differently from other default categories. Assigning these Automatic categories involves two steps:

? Listing all of the categories you want to be able to use for a particular Automatic category function - all the categories that can be used for accounts receivable, forexample.
? Choosing which one of these accounts you want to use as the default.

Depending on your business needs, the list of potential accounts can include only a single account used as the default or several categories as well as the default. For example, if your business only uses one accounts receivable category, there's no need to have more than one category in the list. On the other hand, if you want Big Business users to be able to choose from several possible categories in addition to the default, you can include as many categories as you need in the list.

Because the balance of an Automatic category reflects the total of the balances of other categories, the Balance column in the category's row in the Accounts & Categories list is locked. When you designate a category as an Automatic category, its balance in the Accounts & Categories list is changed to zero, and the category is marked with a padlock symbol. Later, when you enter customer, vendor, and item information, the balances you enter are totaled and appear in the appropriate field in the Accounts & Categories list.

For example, suppose your current accounts receivable balance is $1,000. Click the Accounts & Categories tab and enter an initial balance of $1,000 for the category you want to use for receivables. Then click the Preferences tab and select the account as the Default Receivables category. When you select the category as the default, the $1,000 is changed to zero.

Later, as you move through the Set Up process and enter balances for your customers, these balances are totaled in the Default Receivables field. By definition, the balance of your Default Receivables account equals the total of your outstanding customer balances. So when all customer balances are entered, the Default Receivables balance should be $1,000 again.

To add a category to an Automatic category list:

1. Click the QuickPop icon next to an Automatic category field and choose Show List from the list.

A dialog box appears, listing the categories (if any) currently listed.

2. Click the {bmc plus.bmp } button in the upper right of the dialog box.

A list of all the accounts and categories that have been entered appears.

3. Select the category you want to add, then click the {bmc ok.bmp } button. Alternatively, double-click the category you want.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each category you want to add to the list, then click the {bmc ok.bmp } button.

To designate a default Automatic category:

1. Click the QuickPop icon next to an Automatic category field and choose the category you want to use from the list.

The category appears in the field.



Related:

  Chapter 13 Setup Details

Return to Help